Carlops, Borestane and East Cairn Hill
Some less well trodden Pentland paths were explored for a change – thanks to Enice.
Gerardo, Helen, Gabriel, Susanne, Paul, Viv and her friend Jackie, Enice and canine companions Lizzie and Meg met at Nine Mile Burn. We all headed up to North Esk Reservoir. We passed a memorial stone for farmer Mary Howie who was born in Kirkcaldy and moved to farm the hills around Carlops.
We stopped for a break and some cake at the reservoir before Viv and Jackie peeled off in the direction of Carlops to do a lower level option.
The rest of us headed off towards the Borestane and East Cairn Hill.
Weather cold but calm with lots of icy puddles which Gabriel loved sliding over.
It was a fairly steady climb into the mist to get to the highest point and then the large cairn on East Cairn Hill. Someone has placed a lovely heart shaped stone on the cairn.
The cairn gave us some shelter from the cold for a lunch stop and more cake. Too cold to hang around on the top though and visibility poor unfortunately.
Good views once we got off the summit though. We headed back with another wee cake stop via Carlops getting back to Nine Mile Burn before dark. Certainly a quieter area of the Pentlands. Only met one other person all day.
Good day out with lovely company and excellent Bakewell slice, tiffin and marmalade cake – thanks to the bakers!